LAST week I suggested that a single incident or goal can be a defining moment in a season after the last-gasp equaliser at Swansea.
Having witnessed Saturday’s game against Hartlepool we may have a defining match rather than moment as how we emerged with a 3-1 win is anyone’s guess.
Fortune certainly favoured us with almost every break going our way and while you gladly take what you can get you had to have a measure of sympathy for the visitors, who thoroughly outplayed us in the second half despite having only 10 men.
At 2-1 an equaliser looked to be only a matter of time but when the penalty was spurned you just knew as did Hartlepool that it was going to be Rovers day. The late third simply rubbed salt in their wounds.
While I am in a sympathetic mood I will comment on the visitors’ red card. If ever a rule needs changing it is the automatic sending-off for denying a goal scoring opportunity irrespective of whether the offence is a deliberate trip or mistimed tackle.
Referees are asked to consider distance to goal, location of defenders etc, but not the offence itself. Thus an honest challenge as seen on Saturday is punished with a red card while a cynical challenge can avoid the same sanction. Punishment should be proportionate and on Saturday it clearly was not.
This evening we have the opportunity to steal a march on our play-off rivals and exert some pressure by winning against Port Vale. While relegation looks a certainty for the visitors, their recent results and performances suggest they should not be taken lightly.
We need the Rovers team that stepped out against Swansea to turn up tonight as a repeat of the Hartlepool performance is unlikely to go unpunished twice.
Article
